Study Day Feedback

Summary of Web 2.0 Event

Libraries Creating New Connections and Communities

Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, 27th March 2008

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the Web 2.0 event (and for those who did), here’s what it was all about!

I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone who was involved in the Web 2.0 event. It was a great day, with some great speakers, workshops and food. We have had some really positive feedback about the day.

The morning session was hosted by Margaret Robb who gave a short introduction to the day and welcomed our speakers.

JISC: In Their Own Words: Exploring The Learner’s Perspective On E-Learning
Ros Smith, Author/Editor, In Their Own Words

As Phil Bradley was still trying to find a parking space (always a nightmare in Oxford!), Ros was happy to step into the breach and give her talk first. In some ways this was probably for the best as she set the scene about how people learn today.

Ros’s report looks at the characteristics of effective e-learners and the strategies and techniques they use. The study shows that, “today’s digital learners rarely see e-learning as a separate activity.” The full report is available at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/intheirownwords

Ros concluded that we should as information providers: be aware of changing modes of learning; recognise the value of learner generated content; understand the informal learning environment; urgently promote skills for effective digital learning; focus on induction; re-assess the digital divide; and be controllers of learning or providers of services?

Ros was an inspirational speaker and her talk really opened my eyes to the fact that learning is not how it used to be in my day!

Using Web 2.0 To Enhance Information Provision
Phil Bradley, Internet Consultant

Phil found us in time for refreshments and biscuits. He was an amusing speaker with a plethora of knowledge about Web 2.0. He also made me realise I was an ‘old person’ as I still use email to communicate! Phil’s talk really focussed on Web 2.0 and how it can be used in libraries. He began by defining Web 2.0 and gave us a whistle stop tour as to how we can provide a richer user experience through these applications.

Here are just a few examples (there were many more!) that he mentioned:

Weblogs	Start Pages
Advertise new acquisitions Store data in categories using tags Create a blog for different subjects, which users can edit RSS feeds can alert users when updated	Equivalent to a home page, but you decide content Add links, news, weather, email etc. Share it with a group, so they can edit and add content
RSS feeds	Bookmarking
Add content to web pages Feed updates to readers Create searches in a news aggregator to create news feeds for users	Bookmark websites and information Share bookmarks with colleagues/users
Podcasts	Customised Search Engines
Record training courses Create library tour	Create a subject based search engine Limit it to trusted sites Share it with your users

As Phil stated: “Web 2.0 is a state of mind and an attitude”. He finished his talk by encouraging us to ‘just do it!’

Oxford: Web 2.0 Case Studies
Jane Rawson, Librarian, Vere Harmsworth Library; Emma Huber, Linacre College Library

Jane and Emma gave inspirational talks on how the VHL and Linacre Library is using Web 2.0 to interact with their users. Their case studies are available on the social networking wiki:

http://socialouls.wetpaint.com/page/Vere+Harmsworth+Library http://socialouls.wetpaint.com/page/Linacre+Library

Above reports written by Emma Sullivan, Staff Development

We broke for lunch (very nice indeed!) and then had a more active afternoon of workshop sessions.

Hands-On Session

True to the interactive nature of Web 2.0, the hands-on session provided staff with the opportunity to try out some of the tools that had been presented to us by the morning’s speakers. With facilitators on hand, blogs were created, Facebook and del.icio.us accounts set up, and new love affairs with LibraryThing initiated (that fundamental urge to catalogue is hard to resist!). Using the exercises provided on the Oxford Libraries wiki (http://socialouls.wetpaint.com/page/Oxford+Study+Day), participants were able to familiarise themselves with these new technologies, while those with some prior knowledge had the chance to develop their skills. The session encouraged us to consider how these tools might usefully be deployed in our various libraries, and it will be exciting to see what developments take place as a result. Gillian Beattie, Social Science Library

Pageflakes & Custom Search Engines
Phil Bradley, Internet Consultant

Pageflakes is an unusual term I admit and one that intrigued me enough to attend Phil Bradley’s presentation. Phil is an internet consultant and has spent 12 years teaching information professionals different features of the internet. So what is Pageflakes? Put simply it is a one stop shop for a great variety of internet tools. Pageflakes is a home or start page, customised to the authors needs which incorporates as many useful internet tools as required. So for instance you could design the page to include useful e-resources, bookmarks, to do lists, calendar of events, email, message boards, RSS feeds, search engines; there are too many to list here.

Pageflakes is a versatile and interactive medium to promote information. It enables a library; to include a Readers’ page of the week, this can include information and links to Bookmooch a book exchange for used books. It could also contain library links, an interactive calendar which could be used to display training/events. I think the point about Pageflakes is, it’s not passive like your average web page, and it is so versatile that it allows the designer and user to interact in a way that is not possible with OULS’s current web pages.
Amanda Briant, Health Care Libraries

British Library Case Study
Adrian Arthur, Head of Web Services

Adrian suggested that the success of Web 2.0 lies behind its ability to meet user goals through enabling communication, entertainment, collaboration and socialising. The BL has found much benefit in these new technologies: they encourage the library to evolve the brand and stay relevant, they encourage changes in marketing, they facilitate a more collaborative intranet, and above all enable their content to be opened to the world.

Ideas already adopted included blogs by subject specialists, podcasts of events, internal use of wiki software for project groups, a Facebook page, and the remarkable “Turning the pages” software. Wider implementation of Web 2.0 which will include Primo, links with Flickr to enable image sharing, facilities to comment and tag online galleries and sound archive recordings, and crucially, official policies regarding blogging and moderation. Ultimately, these activities demonstrate how the British library is using Web 2.0 to deliver “rich media” which provides an inspiring experience of their collections.
Verity Orme, Special Collections Duty Officer

RSS Feeds and Podcasting @ Oxford Session
Angela Carritt & Penny Schenk, Bodleian Law Library; Stephen Eyre, English Faculty

This was a really valuable session. It clearly demonstrated the capability of this technology to bring libraries closer to their readers. Angela and Penny showed us already established feeds on websites such as the BBC. Then their purpose was explained: a great way for subscribers to get up-to-date information from a site without having to revisit it continually - and for the creator - a simple, quick method to keep site content changing and current. Next, the process of subscribing to a feed was demonstrated using Google as the RSS reading software – URLs were simply pasted in for the desired feeds. Finally the creation of an RSS feed was illustrated. I was impressed at how straightforward it is to use Oxitems for this purpose. Sign up as an author and get started with little technical know-how seemed to be the message.

They then took us through the process of podcasting. Stephen demonstrated the recording of a podcast, showing us the audio effects achievable with Audacity software. Then we watched him upload the recording onto WebLearn, create the feed through Oxitems and then subscribe to the podcast through I-Tunes; all of which was accomplished with speed and ease. It was a thoroughly enjoyable session – and inspired me to get subscribing straight away.
Helen Guile, Graduate Trainee, Social Science Library

Facebook Discussion Session

This session involved discussions between 4 different groups:

Students for a library presence on Facebook	Librarians for a library presence on Facebook
Students against a library presence on Facebook	Librarians against a library presence on Facebook

The results and comments made can be read at: http://areweallweb2crazy.blogspot.com/

Web 2.0: The End Of The VLE? & The Thema Project
Paul Davis & Liz Masterman, Oxford University Computing Services

Paul talked about the nature and use of Web 2.0 in education. Although Web 2.0 software is ‘free’ there are important aspects to take into consideration. These include: personal security of content (sensitive data); transmission of data (encryption), protection of data, viewing restrictions (public vs private). Paul then looked at Web 2.0 technologies and talked about how they could be used in education.

Liz talked about the Thema project, which is still in progress. The surveys and email updates have so far yielded a great amount of data. Results show that participants see the teaching as what matters, with technology playing a supporting role. The surveys show that use of Web 2.0 technology is variable. View the project at: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/thema/

Presentations from the event can be found on the staff development website at: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/staff/staff_dev/events/0708/web2.0

The day finished with a few questions and answers before everyone headed home.

Outcomes

Several members of staff have set up blogs and contributed to the Social Networking Wiki. Since the Web 2.0 event staff have made the following suggestions for use of Web 2.0 in libraries:

- An OULS blog to post news announcements
- Creating useful web links for training courses in Del.Icio.Us
- Putting powerpoint presentations in slideshare.net
- Creating an online forum to replace feedback or comments books, e.g. http://sslforum.freeforums.org/
- Creating a custom search engine to search for out-of-print websites
- Using Web 2.0 to support part-time distance learners
- Looking at Web 2.0 and accessibility issues for disabled readers
- Creating Google RSS feeds and customised search engines to interact with users
- Using blogs for catalogue training and support
- Replacing useful links with del.icio.us bookmarks
- Using Google reader on websites
- Sharing new acquisitions through LibraryThing widget on websites
- Using OXITEMS to publish library news via RSS feeds
- Looking at how Web 2.0 can work with the CMS

We now also have a Web 2.0 Working Group which is chaired by Angela Carritt. Anyone who would like to be involved please contact Angela: anglea.carritt@bodley.ox.ac.uk

Some comments from the day:

“… how interesting and informative I found the event yesterday. It was a great general introduction to lots of new technology. The workshops and case studies were especially interesting. It was great to see exactly how these technologies can be used in a library setting. I feel much more confident now about using some web 2.0 applications.”

“Don’t be scared of Web 2.0, try it!”

emmasullivan	Latest page update: made by emmasullivan , May 2 2008, 4:51 AM EDT (about this update About This Update Edited by emmasullivan 1 word added 1 word deleted view changes - complete history)
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